2012-01-05

So there I was running, realizing I am really out of shape this winter. Duh! Winter tends to do that to us. It felt like I walked most of the 3.8 miles. But even that's better than working my biceps with the remote control.

A good friend once told me that reading your Bible is very much like exercising: you have to keep your brain in shape just as you do your muscles. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've heard all this before. But this was a different take. The friend reminded me that the brain is a physical part of the body, just like muscles. So it takes work and routine and discipline to make the brain "look" the way we want it to.

So when I just can't focus mentally, I'm allowing that physical part of my body to tell me to quit trying so hard. I typically don't let my muscles talk to me that way when I lift weights. Now mind you, I'm not going for Mr. Universe, of course. Just want to stay away from doctors doing weird stuff to me to keep me alive later.

What the friend was saying is that I must push my brain to stay in shape, just as I would other physical parts of my body.

On a related theme, but not really, I don't like accountability. If I'm not sensitive to the Holy Spirit's conviction, what makes me think I will be less likely to lie to a fellow human?

Enter visual stimulus. Ever tried web-based calendars? I use Google Calendar. I can access it anywhere I have internet access. Here's my stimulus. Every day I exercise I make a calendar entry with a description of what I did, how I felt, how hard I worked. You get the idea.

I make my entries in red-ish so they stick out from all my other entries. When I look at my calendar in the morning I can quickly see how faithful I've been to this endeavor.

Paul said, "... bodily discipline is only of little profit..." (I Tim. 4:8). Did you see that? Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul told us that physical exercise is good for us. Not nearly as good as spiritual exercise, but still good for us.

So, I'm trying to keep a healthy balance. Enjoy the day God has set in front of you.